The Prayer of Military Personnel While Performing Their Assigned Duties
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Fatwa No. ( 18189 )
Q: We are a military unit. We received orders from the command to move from Khamis Mushayt to the Jazan region about eight months ago, to the front lines. We are living in tents and are not settled. There are villages and hamlets near us, and we do not know when we will return to our permanent residence. We have been shortening the prayer up to now.
First question: Is our action in shortening the four-rak'ah prayer correct? Because there has been a lot of questioning on this issue. Please give us a ruling, may you be rewarded. Second question: Is the Friday prayer obligatory for us given the situation as described? Third question: As for the one who brought his family and is not from the local area—meaning he resides in the neighboring cities and villages—does he shorten the prayer or is he required to complete it?
A: It is well known that the default ruling in the Shari'ah for a resident is to complete the prayer, and to perform each obligatory prayer in its proper time, and that the default ruling for a traveler is to shorten the prayer. It is permissible for him to combine the two combined prayers in the time of either one, whether by bringing them forward or delaying them: Zuhr with 'Asr in the time of either one, and Maghrib with 'Isha' in the time of either one, whether at the beginning, middle, or end of the time, according to what is most convenient for the traveler. It is also well known that a traveler who intends to stay for four days or less, and a traveler who stays temporarily for a need whose end he does not know, so that when his need is fulfilled he travels, whether the period is long or short—in these circumstances, he is granted the dispensations of travel, such as shortening the prayer and others. As for the traveler who intends to stay for more than four days, his situation is like that of a resident; he is not granted any of the dispensations of travel, such as shortening the prayer and others. This is according to the most correct of the scholars' opinions, returning to the fact that the default ruling in the prayer
The resident is to complete the prayer, and it is the most cautious. As for the Friday prayer, since the situation is as you described, that you are not settled—and settlement is a condition for its obligation—you pray Zuhr. But if one of you attends a mosque where Friday prayer is performed, he prays with them, and it suffices for him in place of Zuhr. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: We are a military unit. We received orders from the command to move from Khamis Mushayt to the Jazan region about eight months ago, to the front lines. We are living in tents and are not settled. There are villages and hamlets near us, and we do not know when we will return to our permanent residence. We have been shortening the prayer up to now.
First question: Is our action in shortening the four-rak'ah prayer correct? Because there has been a lot of questioning on this issue. Please give us a ruling, may you be rewarded. Second question: Is the Friday prayer obligatory for us given the situation as described? Third question: As for the one who brought his family and is not from the local area—meaning he resides in the neighboring cities and villages—does he shorten the prayer or is he required to complete it?
A: It is well known that the default ruling in the Shari'ah for a resident is to complete the prayer, and to perform each obligatory prayer in its proper time, and that the default ruling for a traveler is to shorten the prayer. It is permissible for him to combine the two combined prayers in the time of either one, whether by bringing them forward or delaying them: Zuhr with 'Asr in the time of either one, and Maghrib with 'Isha' in the time of either one, whether at the beginning, middle, or end of the time, according to what is most convenient for the traveler. It is also well known that a traveler who intends to stay for four days or less, and a traveler who stays temporarily for a need whose end he does not know, so that when his need is fulfilled he travels, whether the period is long or short—in these circumstances, he is granted the dispensations of travel, such as shortening the prayer and others. As for the traveler who intends to stay for more than four days, his situation is like that of a resident; he is not granted any of the dispensations of travel, such as shortening the prayer and others. This is according to the most correct of the scholars' opinions, returning to the fact that the default ruling in the prayer
The resident is to complete the prayer, and it is the most cautious. As for the Friday prayer, since the situation is as you described, that you are not settled—and settlement is a condition for its obligation—you pray Zuhr. But if one of you attends a mosque where Friday prayer is performed, he prays with them, and it suffices for him in place of Zuhr. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.